Centerpieces

For our centerpieces, we used several found & recycled items to make something beautiful. Jermaine & I love spending hours in used book stores, including McKay's in Nashville. They have 'free' bins outside filled with books that have seen better days, so over several months we collected books on each trip, in addition to buying several beautiful hard cover editions. While many of the books were beautiful, there were others with spines falling apart, so we stripped those ones of their covers and turned them into something new. I love the way the pages came together in different shades of cream to blend with the muslin tablecloths and burlap runners. Each table had several stacked books with glass jars containing candles and flowers. We even posted specific books at several tables like How To Control Your Teenager, dog training titles, Harry Potter and Robert Jordan titles! We really enjoyed incorporating our love of books into our decor.

We used recycled glass for our candle holders & vases. There were lots of pickle, sauce & dressing jars in my kitchen over the past year, and several friends joined in with collecting their household items. I added different shades of yarn & hot glued them, which was a simple, quick and inexpensive way to dress up the glass. We used electric candles in many of the jars to add a warm glow to our reception space which looked wonderful all evening!

Other items used around our reception space and at the head table were from my home, including photos, birds, clocks, dried flowers Jermaine had given me, and even an Instamatic camera that was in my closet at home in Canada - purchased by my Mom in the 70's! It was wonderful to incorporate so many personal items and really made our identity shine through.

My Mom's Instamatic camera from the 70's made an appearance at our head table!

 

I'm so pleased with the way our table decor came together!! With a little planning, it was easy to look ahead to collect the items we were looking for, and adding other personal touches really made our reception space feel like a celebration at home with family & friends.

xoxo
mrs dobbins

Flower Girl & Ring Bearer

We were thankful to be able to use the ring pillow and flower basket from Jermaine's brother's wedding for our flower girl & ring bearer (his brother's son!). I wanted to add our colours to the basket & pillow, and luckily a little bit of yarn added the touches I was looking for.

Our flower basket got a touch of orange yarn to add a rustic element to it. I filled the basket with tissue paper flowers, as our flower girl decided she was ok just holding the basket and not throwing anything. We were so excited to include our good friend's little girl, and she did a wonderful job at the wedding!!

The ring pillow had some green yarn wrapped around it, which matched the bridesmaids' dresses. Our ring bearer was our nephew, normally a tiny tornado of energy. He took his job so seriously on the wedding day, and we were so proud of his ability to stay still and stand up with the big guys!

These touches were quick and easy to do, and really made these items fit in with our rustic theme. As the yarn was removable, it also allowed us to temporarily change the look (and was super cheap!) without altering the borrowed basket & pillow! We were so happy to make our wedding a true family affair!

xoxo
mrs dobbins

ps - I should also mention that their outfits were AWESOME! Our ring bearer already had the grey suit he wore, which was perfect for my nephew! We found our flower girl's dress for $17 on clearance at Target, and it had the sweetest flowers around the hem! Her shoes were TOMS (like the rest of the bridal party!) and we both had cute gold ones on - LOVE!! It felt like she was my little mini me that day with her long curls too!! We're so thankful for these little ones :)